Fortuna Police Officer Jordan Walstrom will be awarded the Police Life Saving Medal at the February 20th City Council meeting by Chief of Police William Dobberstein. He will be presented with the award for saving the life of a Fortuna resident, last month, during a medical emergency.

On the morning of January 21st,, 2018, Officer Walstrom was dispatched to a medical call reported as a man bleeding from a post-surgical procedure. Arriving before ambulance personnel, Walstrom quickly assessed the situation and expertly applied a pressure dressing. However, the bandage was insufficient to stem the flow of blood coming from a femoral artery bleed. Quickly realizing this to be a life-threatening situation, Walstrom applied a combat application tourniquet which he carries as part of his emergency gear, and which he has been trained to use.

The gentleman’s condition was quickly stabilized by these actions prior to medical responders arriving and transporting the gentleman to the hospital. Medical personnel at the hospital said that Walstrom’s quick thinking and prompt actions literally saved the man’s life; that without his intervention the man would have bled to death within minutes.

Walstrom joined the Fortuna Police department in November of 2017 and is already one of just a handful of officers who has been awarded the Life Saving Medal in our department.

He is a 2011 graduate of Ferndale High School, and a 2014 graduate of the Redwoods Police Academy. Prior to joining Fortuna Police e he served as an officer with Rio Dell Police, as a volunteer Firefighter in Loleta and as an Emergency Medical Technician with City Ambulance of Eureka.

Walstrom is one of the officers hired in recent months by Fortuna Police Department with Measure E funding.